JeffCo Manager Tony Petelos talks about how the Red Cross helped reunite his family after World War II

View full sizeJefferson County Manager Tony Petelos speaks at a volunteer recognition event for the Jefferson-Shelby chapter of the Alabama Red Cross Tuesday, May 15, 2014. (Jon Reed/jreed@al.com)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Jefferson County Manager Tony Petelos is grateful for the Red Cross. Not just because of the organization's efforts to help the county recover from recent tornadoes, or their aid for those affected by apartment fires while he was mayor of Hoover.

Petelos is grateful because the American Red Cross helped bring his family together after they were separated by World War II.

"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for the Red Cross," he said at an event in Birmingham Thursday night in which the Jefferson-Shelby chapter of the Alabama Red Cross recognized its volunteers.

Petelos said his father, grandfather and two uncles, who were in Greece, left to join the Greek Army in the fight against Nazi Germany. His grandfather and uncles were killed, but his father lived and eventually was picked up by British forces, then by the United States.

Tony Petelos talks about the Alabama Red CrossJefferson County Manager Tony Petelos talks about efforts by the Alabama Red Cross after the April 2011 tornadoes. Petelos spoke at an event in which the Jefferson-Shelby chapter recognized its volunteers.

His mother was still in Greece during and after the Nazi occupation. Then, in 1947, she got a telegram from the American Red Cross. It was from her husband, in the United States. The whole family was able to settle in Jefferson County.

He also praised the Alabama Red Cross for all they've done for disaster relief after natural disasters including tornadoes, from those in 2011 to those last month.

"I was born and raised in Alabama. I'm proud to be from here in Jefferson County," he said. "We have a great community and have a great group of people who live in our community, and volunteerism in our state and in Jefferson County is high."

At the event, the Jefferson-Shelby chapter recognized volunteers for their years of service, giving pins for those who have volunteered for one year to those who have served for decades.

One of those recognized was Bessemer Police Chief Nathaniel Rutledge, who has volunteered for 10 years. He spoke in memory of Velma Richardson, a volunteer for the Red Cross who had served for 35 years. He said the two of them would talk and have lunch often, and she would always ask him to sing. In her honor, he sang Frank Sinatra's "My Way" Thursday.

"Devastation happens in our world every day," he told the volunteers, "and there is always someone who needs a helping hand."